POPE'S VIEW: Getting back ‘home’ moves another step forward

Friday

Aug 31, 2018 at 6:24 PM

The past few months, as our new home has been taking shape, I read every hurricane storm forecast more than once or twice. I look at maps of the coast of Africa to understand better where these Atlantic storms form. I listen to First Coast News’ Tim Deegan to get the latest path.

When you have a house being built this time of the year or, a special event coming up, especially this holiday weekend in St. Augustine, weather watching for storms is top priority.

So, when people have mentioned seeing the house going up and adding they are happy for us, I say we are glad, too, and have hope the roof will beat any fall storms.

On Aug. 22, the trusses and the crane appeared on the site. We got to see this milestone close up from 13 miles away, thanks to photos texted to us from our neighbor, David. He has the best high-altitude view of our site from his second story. The photos were awesome that morning and still are. There was no doubt that day we would have a roof by September. As I write this on Friday, builder Jon Benoit has just sent photos of the wood roof sheathing, the seams covered with tape. He wrote, “We use a flashing tape over all of the seams in the roof so that in the event your roof partially blew off, water couldn't get through the seams and into the house.” Good for us to know. But, we won’t stop watching those storm updates.

We know that getting through the summer without a hurricane or tropical storm is pretty much in our DNA. We are a fall destination for hurricanes and tropical storms.

So, coming up in a week or so, barring any major weather event, we will do our first walk-through. The last walk-through on this site was of the former house on March 13, just minutes before the demolition began.

This month, another task is ahead. I’ll be seriously going through the boxes and bins of the “saves” from Matthew 2016. Those are things that survived “above the water line.” They will help us connect, in a visible way, our not-so-distant past with our new beginning.

Margo C. Pope was associated with The St. Augustine Record for 24 years, retiring in 2012 as The Record’s editorial page editor.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.

Stay Connected

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
The St. Augustine Record ~ One News Place, St. Augustine, FL 32086 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service